Mama Rosie’s

Objective

Implement an EDI system that harmonizes with the chosen business management software application to more efficiently fulfill trading partner requirements and business growth initiatives.

Solution

Implement a simple and affordable end-to-end EDI solution from TrueCommerce.

Benefits

• Integrating SAP Business One with the TrueCommerce EDI Platform is simple and affordable, and significantly improves productivity and drives cost savings.
• New EDI users can quickly become proficient with very little training. The intuitive transaction interface is just as familiar to use as e-mail.
• Implementation is fast, with minimal involvement needed from the user. TrueCommerce EDI Professional Services handles the process, end-to-end.

“We really didn’t know what to expect, though it was hard to believe it would be that easy. TrueCommerce knew what to do and what our trading partners wanted. I didn’t have to think about it…It really was a painless process.”

Anthony “Dino” Stott
General Manager
Mama Rosie’s

Background

Customers’ requests for EDI invoicing necessitated replacing an outdated system with new business software and a more efficient transaction management solution. In business for more than 30 years, Mama Rosie’s Co., Inc. has developed a reputation as the premiere frozen pasta company in the Northeast. “Several of our larger customers required that we use EDI for invoicing, “ said Anthony “Dino” Stott, General Manager for Mama Rosie’s. “To accommodate them, we were punching information manually into an outdated DOS-based system. It became evident that we needed to upgrade to new software and a better transaction management system.”

Addressing the Issues

A SAP Business One with TrueCommerce EDI solution offered unparalleled functionality, scalability and value. “We chose SAP Business One because it met our needs, was affordable and easy to implement, and, most importantly, was EDI capable,” Stott said.

Client Interaction.com, a Newton, MA-based value-added reseller of SAP Business One, suggested integrating the software with TrueCommerce’s EDI Solution. “TrueCommerce’s experience and EDI expertise provides a comprehensive solution that works in harmony with SAP Business One,“ said Barry Berlin, CEO of Client Interaction. “It’s the most robust end-to-end EDI solution for SAP Business One and uses the SAP SDK to add functionality to the ERP. Working with the TrueCommerce team allowed our team to do our best work and rely on their EDI domain expertise to seamlessly integrate with our business software.”

On the recommendation of Client Interaction, Stott chose TrueCommerce. “They said the integration process would be seamless and the implementation easy, and they were right.” Once the business management software was installed and operational, the EDI component was added. “Implementation took about a month, mostly because we were waiting on our trading partners to provide the information needed by TrueCommerce,“ he said. “Each customer had to be handled separately and they all had different transaction documentation requirements, which would have been a nightmare if TrueCommerce hadn’t handled everything for us. Fortunately, TrueCommerce already worked with all of our trading partners and knew their requirements, even down to the division level, so I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

In fact, noted Stott, his company’s involvement in the EDI implementation was minimal. “After initial contacts to our trading partners were made, we really weren’t involved at all. Everything was handled over the phone or through a remote network assistance tool that enabled TrueCommerce to sign into our computer.”

“We really didn’t know what to expect, though it was hard to believe it would be that easy,” he said. “TrueCommerce knew what to do, what our trading partners wanted, and I didn’t have to think about it.”

Benefitting from the Results

Ease of use and minimal training are only two of the benefits that have translated to better productivity, significant cost savings and the ability to take their business to the next level. In addition to the time savings of having TrueCommerce handle the implementation process, one of the key benefits Stott realized right away was how easy the system was to use. “It’s just like working with e-mail,” he said. “The order comes to the inbox, just like an e-mail, and I forward it into the system. The transaction is completed electronically without entering information or numbers manually. An invoice is generated and deposited into the outbox, where we can review it, click it, and send it off .”

This has expedited ordering and invoicing management tremendously. “Before, we had to fax through our sales brokers, then go into the accounting system and input the information line by line. And if there were any mistakes, we wouldn’t necessarily catch them until several days later, when it was rejected by our trading partner. We’d have to re-input, which cost us several days delay. Now, we don’t have to touch 99% of the orders. We just send them through, and on average we’re getting payments three days sooner. We’re also seeing orders two days sooner. And when we’re hitting our peak shipping cycles, those extra two days on the front end are extremely valuable to us.”

The simplicity of training was the “single best thing” about the implementation of TrueCommerce’s EDI solution. “We’re a small company and many of us do multiple jobs-whatever’s needed,” Stott explained. “What used to take a day of training time for people working on the accounting system, I can now teach them to do in maybe fifteen minutes. There’s a high degree of comfort with using the system. It’s simple, straightforward, and not at all time-consuming.”

Now, after about eight months, Stott continues to see the value and the future potential for business growth that can be realized with the support of SAP Business One and TrueCommerce’s EDI solution. “Ongoing support has been wonderful. They’re a phone call away, and very responsive. Once we were up and running, we added a new trading partner; getting them on board went just as smoothly, if not more so, than when we added our previous partners. One phone call, an e-mail, some remote network assistance, and we were ready to do business. All in all, implementing EDI really was a painless process.”